Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Pleione and Orchidaceae => Topic started by: SteveC2 on May 07, 2013, 03:09:51 PM
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Surprisingly, given the length of the cold spell, not as late as I thought they'd be, our local wood has disappeared under a carpet of flowers, primroses, bluebells, anemones and best of all thousands of early purples.
First two shots give an idea of the habitat, and a lesson to photographers, watch out for rucksacks in the background!
Third is what I would call a normal plant, but surprisingly with last year's seed pod attached.
Fourth one of the giants, and fifth one of the pale pinks.
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More photos from yesterday.
No. 6 is one of the whites, about a dozen in several thousand plants.
No. 7 has few flowers, but you got to love those leaves.
No. 8 a tight group showing variability.
No. 9 a varied trio
No. 10 I'm colourblind and sometimes struggle to spot the EPOs amongst the bluebells but this shade screams at me!
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and saving the best for last, on the way back to the car park I found a small clump with the most amazing leaves, more spots then green.
Sadly a visit to a second local venue, about twenty miles away, but one which is on a far less water retentive soil revealed just a single clump of about eight plants, down from several hundred. Throw away a match and the whole lot would go up in flames. I do wonder if the rampant bramble coverage might be shading them out. These spiny beasts are the reason for the poor photograph, ouch!
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Thanks. Great to see the variation.
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Mike Gasson started very interesting, new research project (for every Orchid enthusiast) about Orchis mascula in connection to all other plants growing and flowering in surrounding areas. If you like I can send details
Kristof
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Sounds great Kristof
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Another trip out today, in search of Green Winged Orchids, Anacamptis morio. The site is an ancient ridge and furrow meadow. The plants are just coming, by the thousand, a little late this year, but given the weather we've had not as late as I thought.
No's 1 and 2 show the site.
3 a close up where you can see the green veins on the sepals that give the plant its English name and as morio means clown or jester I think that it is appropriate, unlike some of the names where you think that whoever came up with them must have been on the ale or the mead!
4 and 5 are normal plants.
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And to continue the GWO tale, there is not a lot of variation at this site, just a very few paler plants.
No brambles either, just gale force winds, monsoon rains and I did not like the way the cattle were looking at me in field three of the seven I had to cross to reach the plants. ;D ;D ;D
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Now Steve they are nice cattle!
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Give me good old friesians any day. Don't trust those pointy things!
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Frisians also have horns if they have not been dehorned!
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Another trip out today, in search of Green Winged Orchids, Anacamptis morio.
Hi Steve,
We were at Great Dixter today and saw this little orchid in several of the grassed areas. Not one I'd seen before but a bit damp underfoot(or knee!) to get any really close shots.
Thanks for posting pics,
cheers
fermi
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Last Sunday I went for an orchid walk with the BBOWT (Bucks, Berks and Oxon wildlife Trust) to Bernwood Meadows and Sydlings Copse. Great walk, lovely views and nice variety of plants:
Anacamptis morio (Greenwinged orchid) in various shades including white,
Orchis mascula (Early Purple orchid),
and a few companion plants that caught the eye, such as the Adder's Tongue fern etc.
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And a few more.
On the way back it rained and I went through a puddle, which turned out to be an almighty pothole. The impact burst my front nearside tyre, which came clean off the wheel !!! and I and spent a very pleasant hour listening to the radio and chatting with the AA man. >:( ;D
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I'm really jealous - permanently no time for "orchids hunting", soon I will don't remember how to do the pictures... Anacamptis morio - this is for me extraordinary species, very rare in Poland, in western part nearly extinct (including mountains!!). I'm buying since years tubers from all possible nurseries and growers and even I have not too bad collections now - but this is not to compare with this what I can see visiting just only one site in England (and I know only a bit south-eastern part of the whole country!!!).So many different shapes, colours and shades, just unbelievable. My partner - she will never go with me again, because I can walk on all fours two hours without brake and she want to call ambulance soon after half an hour :)
Maren - this is very funny story for me, your "Blümchen" - this is Cardamine pratensis. I took my Collins "British Wild Flowers" and have found - in UK it's call Cuckooflower… and since hundreds of years this is common name for Dactylorhiza in Poland (Polish botanists from the city Gdańsk argue about it since about 20 years, some of them call Marsh Orchids - "hundrets spots"). Even for ancient western Slavs tribes (Wends) from eastern Germany, Dactylorhiza was "Cuckooflower".
Kristof
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Lots of early purple orchids in the woods on the North Downs near here - but forgot to take camera today!
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Kristof (please forgive the spelling),
I love your story about the "Blümchen". Another great example why binomial Latin is such a good idea as in Cardamine praensis - thanks for the identification. Then there is no mix up (unless the taxonomists go and re-name a genus or species, but that is a different matter altogether). ;) ;) ;)
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..........then there is cuckoo pint (Arum maculatum). I call cuckoo flower "lady's smock".
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'Lady's smock' here too (Irish biolar gréagáin); traditionally used against scurvy and as a treatment for epilepsy.
We digress, again ;D
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I have no idea how to take high quality pictures, so don't kill me please. A few photos from sunday - a short walk through North Downs in Kent
Early Purple nearly over, Butterfly Orchid still in buds, Fly already started, and sometimes big amount of Twayblade.
Regards -
Kristof
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Good to see that someone has orchids in flower - I've yet to see an early purple in the usual sites I see them when driving around.
Perhaps I ought to get out of the car and look properly. ;)
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I've been really busy the past few weeks and what little orchid hunting I had time for proved unsuccessful; greater butterfly orchids in bud or eaten, bird's nest orchids still elusive, but I've had a bonanza in the past two days.
Monday saw me in heading to my local venues in search of some old friends.
A stop in a roadside layby revealed a little group of a dozen been orchids growing in the stoniest harshest looking verge, but there's no competition so they are happy.
A couple of miles down the road and England's most northerly man orchid colony is thriving and spreading, again along a roadside verge. So here's a question. If it's England's most northerly colony does that make it the world's most northerly?
A single bee orchid is also growing here.
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And so down the road to dactylorhiza heaven. The southern marsh orchids used to grow only on one side of the fence that divides two fields. Three years ago grazing was stopped and now they are spreading onto the other side. Move away and the ground becomes a little drier and twayblades start to appear, but why do they like growing in the middle of the path?
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Next came a little trip to the south of the county, crossing into Northamptonshire I think, but the county borders are so confused that I'm never quite sure where I am. On a famous "lumpy" reserve, loads of fragrant orchids everywhere, by my reckoning very early for here, in a year when everything else is late. Go figure!
Great news is that the man orchids are also spreading and this has been the best year in the time that I've been visiting.
The frog orchids are a few days away from opening, each plant carefully marked with a stone to avoid trampling.
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Next was a visit to an old landfill site in search of dacts, bee orchids and pyramids. Seems I was a bit early for the bees and pyramids although both were so thick on the ground in places that you really had to watch your step but there were some very nice dacts, though some were going over.
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And some more landfill dacts.
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And the journey continues! Today over to two limestone quarries near the coast. Once again the dacytlorhizas are not quite fully open but they will be spectacular in a few days.
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And saving the best until last. Driving between the two quarries I nearly had a heart attack, or should I say dact attack? Stretching up a hill, (yes we do have some in Lincolnshire!) on both sides of the verge were thousands of dactylorhizas. All I could think was "Dact! Dact! Dact!" before doing the fastest three point turn of my life.
So some pictures of what must be one of the prettiest road junctions ever.
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And finally a few of the plants!
And the moral of all these posts?
If you've got a little time get out there as this is the best time of year to go orchid hunting.
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Went orchid hunting on Monday .... look at this swarm (I think it is an Dact hybrid swarm). It started few years ago, and now there are thousands and thousands of orchids, from white to very deep purple.
The second has a Burnet Moth caterpillar as well ....
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A couple of miles down the road and England's most northerly man orchid colony is thriving and spreading, again along a roadside verge. So here's a question. If it's England's most northerly colony does that make it the world's most northerly?
My knowledge of the distribution of the Man Orchid (Orchis anthropophora, (syn.Aceras anthropophorum, Himantoglossum anthropophorum etc) is not extensive - but I'd guess that "yours" might well represent the most northerly population - unless (as they used to say on an old UK TV programme ) you know better, Forumists!
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(I think it is an Dact hybrid swarm).
The flowers are superficially like D. fuchsii, but more vigorous, so they are probably D. fuchsii x D. ..........
Do you have photos of the leaves as well?
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Hi SteveC2, we have man orchid here on the North York Moors .... which I suppose are north of you (correct me if I am wrong).
@Peter: will go back and capture a couple of shots of the leaves.
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Yes it is way further north but, and there had to be a but didn't there, if there are man orchids in Yorkshire, especially the north Yorkshire moors, it's going to cause a lot of revisions in the orchid books because none of them seem to know about it ;D ;D ;D.
South Lincolnshire is reckoned to be as far up as they go, hence my belief that my local colony was the most northerly.
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An evening visit to one of the Lincolnshire Limewoods, supposedly in search of bird's nest orchids, hoping that they might be late this year like so many of the orchids.
Failed!
But it's hard to be too disappointed when the rides are lined with so many common spotted orchids and the greater butterfly orchids are still in flower under the canopy. Sorry about the photo quality, it's dark in the wood at the best of times, last night by eight o'clock it was virtually pitch black! Spooky as hell and the air was filled with the sound of mosquito buzzing and muntjac deer calling. I think it is the deer that have levelled every twayblade in the wood.
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Fabulous site, thanks for sharing. :)
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An evening visit to one of the Lincolnshire Limewoods, supposedly in search of bird's nest orchids, hoping that they might be late this year like so many of the orchids.
Failed!
But it's hard to be too disappointed when the rides are lined with so many common spotted orchids and the greater butterfly orchids are still in flower under the canopy. Sorry about the photo quality, it's dark in the wood at the best of times, last night by eight o'clock it was virtually pitch black! Spooky as hell and the air was filled with the sound of mosquito buzzing and muntjac deer calling. I think it is the deer that have levelled every twayblade in the wood.
Fantastic site. Given the number of Platanthera and Dacts still showing, it does suggest that the Muntjac do not find them tasty - you'd wonder wouldn't you, what the difference is? I hope I am not speaking too soon and the deer are moving onto these species next..... :-X
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Steve - your photo could be a school-example to understand the main differences between Dactylorhiza fuchsii and maculata: the first one, plants relative smaller and slender, second one - clearly massive, strong.
Watching this all sites just make me a pain - no time for trips...
Kristof
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Over to the Lincolnshire coast this after noon for an amazing display of Southern Marsh Orchids. The first dune slack that I looked in was impressive (photos 1 and 2) but the next took my breath away.
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And a couple of close ups of the Southerns, plus a group including what I think is a going over Early Marsh Orchid, and one of the few pyramidals that are starting to gate crash the dactylorhiza party.
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Good grief!!! I've heard of locally plentiful, but this is just mind blowing! What an incredible scene. 8)
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I second that Maggi. It must have been incredible to approach and see them. 8) That burnet caterpillar in a previous post would possibly be looking for a spot to pupate as they don't feed on orchids.
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One my countryman took this pictures two years ago :):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54255865@N00/sets/72157626657557761/with/5748565602/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/54255865@N00/sets/72157626657557761/with/5748565602/)
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Kristof, I know Piotr well, as he attends many of the shows that we go to, and am a fan of his photography. His dacts were up at Cleethorpes, mine near Skegness, but they are to be found all around the Lincolnshire coast and on into Norfolk and certainly make a fantastic display.
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Pyramidal orchid seen growing on the banks of the Royal Military Canal near Appledore, Kent yesterday.
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Bee and pyramidal orchids are locally quite common - indeed some of the road verges near us are stuffed with them. We have a scattering of them in the garden, so although these are garden plants, they are genuinely wild.
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Nearly the end of the season now, but its time to hit the woods in search of helleborines.
First broad leaved and green flowered helleborines, which like so many of the woodland plants really sing out in the low light.
Just wish there weren't so many mosquitoes.
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And a trip into Leicestershire for a new species for me, the Violet Helleborine. Some singletons, some small groups and one large clump, but all lovely.
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My goodness, these Violet Helleborine are really lovely. Grateful to you for braving the mozzies to share with us, Steve!
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Just a couple of close ups so you can appreciate them better.
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They really are gorgeous - hardy orchids are just fantastic plants.
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Final trip of the year, to Lincs / Cambs border in search of Autumn Lady's Tresses Spiranthes spiralis As soon as I saw sheep in the field I sensed that I was in for a disappointment and sure enough I did not find one single flower spike in the grazed area. But, the good news is that in a fenced area there were plenty in flower, and having gained permission to enter I was soon snapping away. Given the raging fen gale I deleted most shots but one or two were passable, thank God for digital cameras.
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Hi Steve2,
you were lucky to find the Ladies' Tresses. Did they have any scent?
I just discovered my last Spiranthes sinensis, such a cute little thing, growing in a tiny pot outside my front door. All its brothers flowered a month ago.
Spiranthes sinensis 01 spot the orchid!!!
Spiranthes sinensis 03 closeup with visitors
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Sorry Maren, I cannot say if the ALTs were scented or not. It was very, very, windy and I was being very, very careful not to kneel on any of the plants!